Collecting data- where and how
Collection of data will proceed with slight variations for each country
and potentially for taxonomic groups and data sources within each
country.
The goal for indicator 1 is to extract a current census size (and/or, if
available, effective size) for each population for each species. It is
also important to record associated data such as year, reliability/
uncertainty, population names or geographic information, reference
information, and other information of the species. This is why we have
created a Kobo form and Kobo guide.
Note: Nc represents the number of adults present in the population. For
birds, estimates of numbers of breeding pairs (if available) can be
used, which represents 0.5*Nc. Thus, multiply the number of breeding
pairs by 2 to get the Nc.
The goal for indicator 2 is to extract a count of the number of
populations existing today, and which existed at a historic time point.
To allow maximum use of each country’s data and flexibility, we do not
define ‘historic time point’ specifically but we offer guidance below.
Collection of data may be very straightforward or fairly laborious,
depending on the country and data source. Some countries may have a
centralized database of many species (across taxonomic groups and levels
of rarity) from which population sizes and counts can be extracted
directly and quickly. This may be especially the case for plants, long
lived organisms and those of high economic, ecological or cultural
value. Extracting data directly from computer files or tables would be
very straightforward and it can be entered in the data collection form
easily. For more countries we anticipate that data will need to be
extracted manually by humans by reading reports, websites, planning
documents, and/or expert consultation. Often it may be necessary to
consult more than one resource. Options include
- Endangered or declining species management reports. Some countries
have mechanisms to publish recovery plans, status, or other
information about selected species. These reports often list current
population sizes and current and sometimes historic range or
population occurrence.
- IUCN Red List or NatureServe. More than 100,000 species have been
assessed by the IUCN Red List at global or national levels. These
reports sometimes list current population sizes and current and
sometimes historic range or population occurrence.
- Literature or internet searches. Scientific journal articles sometimes
present census size and current and historic range information in the
Introduction, Methods or Discussion sections. This may be especially
useful for species with old, outdated Red List assessments or where
population level information is not otherwise available. Wikipedia,
NatureServe, WWF, taxon specific NGOs, and other respected websites
may also have relevant information.
- Expert consultation. For some taxonomic groups it may be feasible and
indeed most efficient to present the list of species to a panel of
taxonomic experts (e.g. amphibians, trees, etc.) who would have up to
date and possibly unpublished knowledge and can also provide measures
of uncertainty. This can be an efficient way to gather data on dozens
of species in a short period of time. Convening a workshop (virtually
or in person with a goal of discussion and consensus) of experts might
be considered as well for gathering information.
- Occurrence points from GBIF or citizen science. In some cases this can
help define populations, define habitat area, and possibly even define
lost populations if these points have high reliability. They should be
interpreted with caution, because (i) not every occurrence is a
population (as mentioned above) and (ii) such occurrence points might
mix occurrences from different years, so spatial and temporal
occurrences can be conflated (e.g. a GBIF map shows an extant
population in a place because of old occurrences, but the population
is actually extinct). As with all data interpretation, use caution.
If doing manual data extraction, each data source should be read
thoroughly. Many Red List assessments and management plans might be 1 to
20 pages long (sometimes longer). The text might clearly state the size
of each population, sometimes in text and sometimes in a table, and
sometimes with a map. However, data may be incomplete, such as listing
the size of only the largest or smallest populations. As noted above, it
is ok to submit species for which some information is missing. The time
necessary to gather data from individual sources (and/or consult
experts) may range from 15 minutes (for clear, short reports), to
several hours.
Data may be recorded directly on the Kobo form, or on printed paper, or
other means, and then transferred to the Kobo form.